ceo of the wounded we more your project. then, charles schmitz has the latest on yemen. as always, we will take your calls. "washington journal" is next. ♪ host: good morning on the sunday, march 29. congress is in recess for the next two weeks marking the start to the passover season. it is also the start of holy week for christians around the world. president obama and vice president biden will start the week in boston tomorrow for the ceremony of the opening of the dmk institute. we will have live coverage on our network. reuters is announcing that european diplomats are trying to break an impasse in a

nuclear negotiations. that is our focus for the first 45 minutes on "washington journal." this question, should the united states trust the iran? (202) 748-8000 is a line for democrats. (202) 748-8001 for republicans. if you're an independent, the number to call is (202) 745-8002 . you can also comment on our facebook page or send us a tweet, @cspanwj. this story, just a few moments ago from washingtonpost.com saying iran may set new constraints in the nuclear talks, but is pushing back as to how long it must accept limits on technology to make nuclear arms.

negotiators are facing four days and are aimed at curbing iran's access to nuclear activities. this is a story inside the washington post with someone traveling with secretary state c kerry. she is joining us live this sunday. the deadline is tuesday. will u.s. and european debt plymouth meet the deadline? guest: that is not entirely clear. we are getting conflicting signals. most of the negotiators say that it is certainly possible. there are still some very fundamental differences between the two sides that are negotiating. it's not clear that they will be able to bridge it by tuesday. host: what your reporting

this morning is that the stage and negotiations, it could just be finalizing the details, but based on what you are reporting diplomats are not even there yet. is that correct? guest: they are not there yet at all. there have been occasional reports and graphs floating around, but they are quickly denied. they are being very secretive at this stage in the talks. frankly, we have very little access to them. we are in an entirely separate wing of the hotel from the negotiators. we can get that close to them. everyone's in a while, someone comes out and speaks. we often get these conflicting signals. we know they are looking pretty rim, the negotiations. week sometimes get to go in for a minute or two. everyone who is coming out says that there are large differences on research and development. iran was to still be able to do

research and development into centrifuges because they are using these very antiquated centrifuges, which are not very efficient, they rely on 1970's technology. they want to be able to update them so they can produce more of a, that's what they say. the united states and other negotiating partners are concerned that that would allow them to more quickly create material for a bomb. host: you have become an expert in deciphering diplomatic talk, i want you to decipher this saying that difficult but serious work continues. guest: it sort of purposely is ambiguous. it could be read several ways. they are in i really frenetic

round of meetings. secretary kerry with meeting last night with a someone from the european union until 11:30 p.m., they kicked out medians again at 9:00. they go one from one set of meetings to another. when they talk about how serious these negotiations are and they are intensifying is that they are stepping up the pace and still wrangling with these fundamental core principles that they are not able to, what they say, bridge the gaps. get enough conceptions on either side to get an agreement. host: the key issue is trust and be able to verify what iran is up to over the next 10 years. how does the u.s. and sure that? also, if you could elaborate a little more on france's role in this because they had become a key player in the negotiations. guest: sure. what the united states keeps saying is it is not about trust it is about verifying.

the main thing is they want to have a lot of transparency. they want to be able to have inspectors from the international atomic energy agency to go in at random and at will to any of these facilities and check. iran has been resisting that so far. they want to have the ability to go anywhere anytime so that they can check and make sure that materials are not being unma amassed. france has been a little more hawkishh that the united states. they keep saying they want to have a longer duration for the agreement. they are talking as long as 25 years. the united states is saying 10 years plus another maybe five. this would be 10 years of limitations, and then sanctions over five years.

and then start to lift the limits. they are being much more hawkish . they're going to twitter, the french diplomat in washington has been going to twitter like crazy saying, what so magical about march 31, why do we have to have an agreement by march 31 let's keep talking until june 30. the end of june is actually the deadline when the interim agreement expires. the march 31 deadline, which is tuesday, is more of a political deadline. it's one that -- they said they wanted to have a general agreement. it's more political for the united states with all the opposition that they had. host: we are talking with carol morello, diplomatic correspondent from "washington post." final question for you, what is

the secretary of state schedule? was he stay in switzerland until tuesday? guest: he will stay on at least until tuesday. it's not clear what happens after tuesday, whether he will go back immediately or if they will keep talking for another day or two. theoretically, they could go beyond the deadline. it's not clear at all. he would hope to go back to attend an event honoring ted kennedy, the late senator in boston. he just cancel that. it's not clear. they are willing to keep talking until 2:00 or 3:00 in the morning over the next few. host: your stories updated online at washingtonpost.com. thank you very much for being with us. we appreciate it. guest: thank you. bye. host: we will continue with your

phone calls, the question should the u.s. trust iran? (202) 748-8000 for democrats. (202) 748-8001 for republicans. let's go to date turning us from tennessee. our line for independents. good morning, net. -- nick. caller: let me preface this, i will probably be called a right-wing caulk by someone who supports the president and hillary because they had no real -- let's say intellectual challenge. let's pretend like just for a second, that we are in a secret hall of the iranian group of leaders. and they say listen, this president, when they had the revolution amongst the young did nothing. this president when one of our fellow islamists -- that was a

growth video. yes, we have said we will do this and that, but he knows that's not important. he's really on our side and against israel and the rest of the world. host: from tennessee, nick on the phone. (202) 748-8000 for democrats. (202) 748-8001 for republicans. we do have a line for independents. (202) 745-8002 the wall street journal reporting this morning that the nuclear talks are heading to and endgame. also pointing out, failure to reach a political deal on time would pile pressure on the white house, which has threatened to increasing since on iran. such a situation would create a crisis in the efforts.

the british prime minister said that any political deal may be a political statement with the narrative about the point. the march 31st deadline could be challenging. again, the final detailed nuclear agreement is said to be finished by june 30. next is tom joining us from rutland, vermont also an independent. caller: good morning. i understand that right now iran has several ballistic missile some on the launchpad that are intercontinental. i'm curious as to what they need those for. also, i understand that they have a secret plan in bolivia that they are operating. they are more than likely processing uranium there.

also there's an agreement in the works, but i understand that they won't put anything in writing. they want to make the agreement verbal only. host: thanks for the call. from fox news, as the deadline looms, the iran talks take on a frantic tone. the story is available online at foxnews.com. also, an organization called the world values network, with a photograph of the president saying, fighting al qaeda makes you like churchill. appeasing iran will make you like chamberlain. now to our republican line. caller: my concern is that we have been dealing with the iranians on this issue for 17

years. they have been caught lying dozens of times. they have underground secret facilities, of which we know about some, i don't know we know about all of them. they have lied to inspectors in the past. if in fact you are dealing with an administration that has an endgame goal, which is get a weapon. why else would they higher the leading pakistani nuclear weapons design guide for years? yet, if you listen to the way the administration is seeking about this, it sounds like -- we are dealing with sort of reasonable people and we can come to an agreement. i would like the administration, the president of the united states to actually talk to us and explain to us why we should have any confidence in this procedure. host: the president did issue a video address to the iranian people -- .

here's a portion of what he said earlier in the month. [video clip] president obama: i want to take this opportunity to talk directly to the people and leaders of iran. as you gather around a table in tehran, from the coast to the persian gulf, you are giving blessings and looking ahead to the future. this year, we have the best opportunity in decades to pursue a different future between our countries. just over one year ago, we reached an initial understanding regarding iran's nuclear program. both sides have kept our commitments. iran has halted progress and even rolled it back in some areas. the international community including united states, has provided some relief to sanctions. now, our diplomats and scientist are engaged in negotiations in hopes to find a solution

regarding iran's nuclear program. the days and weeks ahead will be critical. gasser made. people in both our countries support diplomatic resolution. my message to you the people of iran is that together we have to speak up for the future that we seek. as i have said many times before, i believe our countries should be able to resolve this issue with diplomacy. president rouhani has said that iran would never develop a nuclear weapon. together, with the international community, iran has said that -- the united states is that iran should have access to peaceful energy. there is a way for iran, if it is willing to take meaningful verifiable steps to show the world that it's program is for peaceful purposes only. host: that is the president in and addressed to the iranian

people. a gallup pole came out saying that as nuclear talks progress, 11% in the u.s. see iran positively. from new york, democrats line. caller: good morning. host: how do you answer the question? caller: i don't trust iran. i don't trust israel either. when you pose the question as to whether we trust israel also. host: we are talking about iran because that is where the negotiations are happening. we will move on to glenn. good morning. caller: i think that -- i just don't think that should be as big of an issue as we are making it. israel has 200 nuclear weapons. and you are saying that no other country in the middle east

should have nuclear weapons. host: we are not saying that. what we are saying is that the u.s. is now negotiating to try to halt any further development in iran, is it is developing nuclear weapons. caller: and i'm saying that i don't think that is really right. i don't think that's right. i think that if israel can have weapons, other country should have weapons. the united states should be able to look at that in a way -- listen, you gave israel all these weapons, and that is part of the issue over there, to dominate. they don't want to negotiate. host: one of the issues is that israel is a long-standing and close ally. at the moment, we don't have that with iran. caller: guess what, maybe you would have that with iran and other countries if you stop favoring israel as much as you do. that business that happened

three weeks ago with the prime minister of israel coming over here. i am and independent, and i was insulted. i don't see president obama going over there and doing that to them. host: thanks for the call. from new jersey. going back to the fox news story, what is a fast approaching deadline, the talks take on a frantic tone. rouhani met with merkel on the importance of reaching an agreement. from houston, texas. the morning. caller: good morning. i don't know whether i trust iran or not. i don't think that's the issue. i do think something should be worked out. i was so put off by netanyahu's visit that i could hardly believe that he would have done something like that that was so disrespectful to our president. i'm hoping that something can be worked out.

does anyone else here one another war? i think it's ridiculous. work anything you can out. i thank you. host: next is rose from virginia. independent line. caller: good morning. my problem is basically with the fact that everybody is blaming iranians. iranians are not to blame. the regime is to blame. the regime is brutal. you cannot trust them. obama, when the people rose up, they didn't talk. you can see on cnn, all these kids were being thrown back in the trucks. they were being killed. when everyone was saying, please say something, obama just said, nothing.

just stated he would not be involved. he's not involved -- he's not involved in the libyan problem. he is not involved in iranians problems. now with this regime, which is brutal, which has killed thousands of people. asked murders and everything. he's giving this nuclear saying just because he was to bury the people. he's against the people. his own people. host: rose from virginia. one of our viewers saying that if we are close, extending the deadline is no big deal. successful negotiation is a big deal. from "the miami herald" -- as speculation continues on the gop field, marco rubio speaking in downtown miami. an advisor saying that nothing

has been nailed down for an announcement. likely candidate, rand paul, making his announcement official on april 7 following a five day tour. markmarco rubio presumably would not want to share the stage. this is a story this morning on the front page of "union leader" -- cruz saying he can rally the right. also, governor pence seeking to clarify the law and what it would mean for hoosiers. on the issue of iran, should the u.s. trust iran? we will go to paul. we don't have paul connected. we will continue with your phone calls. this is a story from "l.a.

times." call from massachusetts. we will get back to you in just a moment. we are having a little bit of an issue with our phone lines. we will get that straightened out. sorry about that. let me share with you the front page of "time magazine" -- cuba. from "cq weekly" -- delivery refused. from "the new york times magazine" -- inside the walls of the harshest prison. this issue of iran has come up in a number of hearings on capitol hill. here's one from this past week. [video clip] >> also, when it comes to dealing with the fight against isil, we are also seeing iran

and its allies continue to invade other countries and become more of a threat to our national security. this model -- muddled mess, one day the shiites are our allies, and the next, the sunnis. depending on which country, if you're dealing in yemen, the iran backed forces are our enemy, and a problem, and yet when we are fighting isis, they are our allies. it is a confusing mess. for us in congress to end up developing and aumf, it becomes very complicated. i'm curious about your thoughts on that. host: that was just part of the

testimony. we are having a little bit of an issue with our phone lines. we apologize that if you are trying to get through. we might have to switch the phone lines. we also want to show with you what freshman senator tom cotton had to say this past monday. he spoke about the situation in iran and was also facing some protest. [video clip] center dot in -- senator cotton: i support negotiations from a place of strength where we are ne controlling the negotiations. not the circumstances. two days ago, let me remind you -- someone said death to america. two days ago. someone went to his crowd into a frenzy saying, death to america.

what was his response? it yes certainly, death to america. this is not the man or regime to whom we should make nuclear concessions. [applause] in fact, the presence one-sided nuclear concession is at peace with his policy of retreat that apolog for american conduct and undermines our efforts rather than secures it. host: that was senator tom cotton as he spoke here in washington. you sell some of those demonstrations and protests. we will try to get to some of your phone calls. again, we apologize, we are having difficulty with our phone lines. paula is is joining us from massachusetts. paul, if you could turn the volume down on your set. please go ahead. caller: hello? host: you are on the air.

paul, good morning. ok. we're having a little bit of an issue. caller: hello? can you hear me? host: we sure can. caller: you can hear me.? host: i can. you are on the air. go ahead. caller: what i would like to say is who we can't trust is israel. everybody needs to remember back to 1967, the uss liberty. look it up. that's all. host: we will try ron and arizona. are you with us ron? ron is not there. again, i apologize. let me share a few stories, we will probably go to break and work this out. this is on the kennedy legacy

with the two sons of edward m kennedy. a ceremony will be taking place tomorrow in boston. a look at their life and legacy. inside "the new york times" -- a photo of the second wife of ted kennedy. inside, a replica of the russell building. that is of course just a block or two from where we are. inside th "the new york times" -- the kennedy institute has the floor. as its centerpiece, a full-size replica of the chamber. this from senator trent lott, i walked in there and got a chill. i thought, i had been there

before. to drive the point home, the center also serves as a classroom. the hollowed ground allows senders to a cop as big things. we will take a short break. we will take a short break, i think. we will get the phone lines worked out. i apologize. our system was down for just a moment. you are watching and listening to c-span's "washington journal" on sunday, march train nine. we will be back in just a moment. ♪ >> on iowa's caucus, there were problems in 2012. some voters initially thought that mitt romney won the state.

it turned out rick santorum won the state by a very narrow margin. are you taking steps to ensure that you don't have voting problems in the future? also, are you also trying to find ways to make the caucuses more successful? there has been talk about trying to help younger folks with children participate, or military veterans. those serving overseas. what steps are taking their? >> absolutely in terms of the first question. it sounds like an old cliche that we will learn from mistakes that were made for years ago. it's incredibly important that both the republican party and the democratic party out here in iowa have a caucus process that is as perfect as human beings can make it. that means there will be a few mistakes. immediately after that happened we put together a blue-ribbon panel. we bet all.

we looked at not only in terms of mistakes that were made in the previous caucus, but also what we can do 10 handset. yes, there will be steps made. what's also exciting is that we're going to be announcing a very important initiative in a few weeks that is not only going to enhance a caucus, it will make it more transparent, more credible. i think the media, -- in terms of access, i was just visiting with the democratic chair this morning. any maguire is our new chair out there. we are arm and arm in how we make these caucuses better. one of the things we're going to do is try to open this up. i say try because there is bureaucracy one has to jump through in d.c. to open this up to our overseas veterans -- host: our look at iowa and new

hampshire politics on our newsmakers program. we are going to try it again. we apologize. sometimes these things do happen. we will go to peter in west palm beach, florida. good morning. caller: i think our problem is -- what would not want to -- what we would want to do next, -- we are having all these wars going on now. what would happen to us? would we have to drink the back -- drake bring the draft back? let's draft their sons and see if they want a war and see how things change and they would look for diplomatic solution.

never mind a war. they do not know what war is with iran. host: next we will go to susan in boston. good morning. we will try march in illinois. caller: good morning. host: you are on the air march. ge. caller: this is susan. host: please go ahead. we move on to doug in brookline massachusetts. caller: i think the question should be can iran trust the united states. 1953, the united states with the british and anglo persian oil company installed their puppet.

i do not believe there is any pact or alliance that we have with israel that obliges us to come to their defense or anything like that for the simple reason israel has reviewed best has refused to -- legally be cannot ally with them. could you have another guest to expand upon this? host: we will go to jesse in michigan. caller: good morning. my comment is, i do not know why we go to another country and tell them what they cannot have.

israel, they come over here and all violate -- snubbed obama like he is not the president of the united states. why should iran trust us? a column in the washington post. four more years of the clintons. maureen dowd's column in the new york times. ready for 45, a look at james baker and others were advising jeb bush in his bid for the white house. both columns can be read online. paul is joining us from massachusetts, independent line. caller: hi. i watch often gurria i hope a lot of people do not think --, i hope a lot of people do not think the current administration

is going to trust iran more than anyone else. we do not go trusting anyone's word. you try it with the caveat that you keep an eye on them. we do not want to end up like -- what it to end up like north korea. we always have the war option on the table. we keep an i on everything everybody does, even germany. that has been proven. we try to negotiate and we keep all the other options, like we always do. i hope people can understand that. we are not naive enough. none of them are that naive. we have to try to do something to get through the iranian people. they have a messed up government but they are not a messed up people in general. hopefully this works. if not, we can still bomb them.

we cannot really stop it with arms. this is a better system. the war option is still on the table. host: thanks for the call. another viewer saying, do you trust our government? you can share your thoughts on our twitter page. based on a conversation that the editor in chief -- editor in chief had with the elected israeli prime minister. he says what alarmed the prime minister was iran. any hopes for peace and stability in the middle east. the nuclear arms deal that the obama administration seeks with iran would secure iran's path to nuclear weapons capability and witchcraft in a regime that not only proclaims death to israel and america but shows by its

behavior that it means both statements. this is a way to say nothing of the likelihood of a nuclear arms race to follow. should the u.s. trust iran. ? good morning. caller: absolutely not. that does not mean i would not support a deal with iran. all the people listening needs to understand the words of ted kennedy, a democratic senator for 50 years who said that he expected within a certain number of years -- i do not remove the exact time, that we will wake up and have a nuclear explosion in the united states. that fear should be understood. this is a complex issue but is the reason behind the non- proliferation treaty that exists in the world today. a lot of countries signed off on it. north korea did not.

we cannot allow this proliferation of nuclear weapons. this thing that every nation should be allowed to have them because others do is idiocy. this is a complex issue. if we can have a treaty with iran that guarantees they do not get a nuclear weapon, so be it. that has to be when it is established. other players in that region will wants to know that iran will not end up with a bomb or you will trigger nuclear proliferation. host: jody has this point. we have a senator who says bomb iran. david writing about the negotiations in that country between the u.s. -- writing about negotiations in switzerland.

and is joining us from maryland. caller: good morning. enjoying the discussion. it is not at a question of trust. it's a question of the best way to ensure that iran would be subject to inspection. i did not find it helpful when -- they do not allow the process to go forward. i do not think it should be thwarted. i think that in something this important, it should be allowed to finish and then make up their minds. you have a good day. host: also in the new york times, a secure fence but with curb appeal. the secret service and d.c. police working on securing a new

fence likely to be in place by next year. some of the security measures including a temporary fence to ensure that people do not jump the fence. a look at the graph of the 18 acres that make up the white house and the design for the new fence that will be from the treasury department to the eisenhower executive office building by next year. next is todd from plattsburgh -- from pittsburgh. caller: one of the tragedies in the country today is the misconception that the body politic procures from the propaganda that seems to permeate our electronic and written media. it is unconscionable and it is driven by a select group of folks that want nothing but war. we have 16 nuclear polaris

submarines, seven and sea 306 the five days a year on a rotating basis -- 306 the five days a year on a rotating basis. each one of those subs could iraq kate iran and turn them into -- eradicate iran. one of your prior callers made mention of bp oil. there was a great look -- a great book by david kinzer. from the time of alexander the macedonian iran has not attacked anyone. this constant pressure with this bombing is detrimental to the

united states of america. it is driven primarily by resolution 338. it was passed by jimmy carter in the carter administration and the united states has used its veto in the security council to deny palestinian statehood in spite of international law which has been violated by israel for close to half a century. host: we will go next to lee in las vegas, nevada. caller: good morning. host: glad to hear from you. caller: i am not sure if the question should be, should the u.s. trust iran. i think the question should be, should the u.s. trust our republican congress and senate.

it seems like they are the ones who are pressing really hard to stay on the cutting edge of war. if people start drawing a parallel to the states that build our armaments, it would only benefit them. we don't care who gets in our way because we're powerful. in historical times, a lot of sigil would -- a lot of civilization spot the same thing . if we do not start talking to people as people and looking past the color, we are going to all go down in flames. everybody is trying to blame the black guy in the white house. it seems to be he is the only one trying to do the right thing by negotiating with everybody around the world, to get them to

the table and talk some sense. i do not see it happening from a republican congress. this netanyahu thing, coming over like this, that is stirring up messed for sure. i think people should focus on whether they should trust our legislators. host: thank you for the call. speaker of the house john boehner is in the middle east, including a stop in israel. you might have seen the demonstrations over the weekend in indianapolis. we showed you the headlines. this is a story inside the washington post. hundreds rally. the piece says that those demonstrations -- some carrying no hate in our state signs. a new law that could sanction discrimination against gay

people. the indianapolis star has an exclusive interview with the governor. governor pence scorched by a fast spreading political firestorm, telling the start he would support the in production -- the introduction of legislation -- i support religious liberty, says the governor, but we are in discussion with legislative leaders to see if there's any way to clarify the intent of the law. governor pence saying the intended blowback is the result of what he calls -- the intense blowback is the result of what he calls a misunderstanding.